Oh dear, Pamela. You anticipate older baby boomers on the brink of
retirement to move out of their jobs? They, but obviously not you, are all
too keenly aware that Social Security moves further and further from their
grasp, now requiring people to work until they are nearly 70. When Social
Security does kick in, the payment does not begin to replace earned income,
due primarily to the part-time, low wage and employed/not employed
insecurity of museum work. Retirement plan? A great idea, but not one that
museums tend to think is worth the trouble. Nest egg? When property taxes
rise to skyscraper height, when aging brings not only the comfort of a life
much enjoyed but the expenses of medical crises-- replacement knees from
carrying those heavy boxes of archives, for example, and dealing with cancer
or diabetes complications-- or the loss of spousal retirement plans and
retired employee health insurance, absence of domestic partner recognition
for benefits, the expense of helping your grown kids out when they lose
their high-tech jobs, then their unemployment and health insurance, then
their house... the nest empties its eggs pretty rapidly.

No, all of these things have not happened to me (yet), but I've seen all of
them in the lives of colleagues all around me, and I'm pretty sure I will be
lying in a pine box before I can consider quitting work.  This phenomenon of
hard to find jobs is not limited to the museum or public history world, and
not limited to recent graduates or  ambitious youth.  Times have changed,
big time, and we are all caught in the world we created, one that pours
money into wasteful war, looks the other way at executive stealing, and
tolerates a "me and only me" attitude throughout every layer of society
around the world. We're not approaching an economic crisis, we are smack in
the middle of it, and losing more daily.  I see money out there, cruelly
used in many cases and simply insensibly used in others. But I don't see it
being used to solve the acute economic problems we face at this moment.

However, I do agree with you on one important point: it is indeed rare for a
job to go to the best qualified person. I think it is that "me and only me"
phenomenon that puts incompetent people in places of leadership and relative
high income; people reward their friends in return for something for
themselves.  It is cruel for those with the power to hire and fire to
withhold a job from someone who upsets the status quo by working to her best
capacity! And, it perpetuates both this lopsided, unfair system of rewards
and growing acceptance of incompetence.

At this moment in time, I don't know what to advise a young person seeking
museum or public history work. The museums are not all going to close, so
there will be work there.  There is benefit in doing any kind of paid work
(or volunteer for that matter, but volunteering puts nothing on the dinner
table); you learn the discipline of working to someone else's line, you
build a network. I've been surprised at the growth of museum studies
programs in recent years, and just as surprised when I see how little the
graduates have learned. I think there are as many well qualified, competent
grads as there have always been-- but because there are more grads there are
more average and below average grads, and fewer non-profit museums too (but
a huge increase in industry supported ones).

Anyone have other thoughts? How can we encourage good students, excellent
teachers and competent grads, because we do need them to carry museums into
the future. Has there been a sea change in museum expectations, favoring
less competence, or favoring for-profit sensibilities?  Where are the models
for dealing with a surplus of graduates in such a specialized field? Does
there need to be a big change in the way Museum Studies and Public History
are taught? Uh oh, where is Pogo when we need him?

Micki Ryan
Museum & Archival Services


  -----Original Message-----
  From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Pamela Silvestri
  Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 10:55 AM
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: Re: public history grad program


  Holly,

  I can truly sympathize with your experiences and many of us have had these
frustrations and still do  ...  we can anticipate even more  [job openings]
with the older baby boomers being on the brink of retirement.  ...

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